Isabel Oakeshott of The Sunday Times said Pryce was devastated by the collapse of the marriage

Vicky Pryce was described yesterday as a ‘broken woman’ after her marriage to Chris Huhne broke down following his affair with Carina Trimingham.

Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott, who conspired with Pryce to bring down Huhne over the speeding points, told the court that the economist was ‘constantly on the verge of tears’.

She said: ‘It was the extraordinary contrast between this tough and successful professional woman wearing a suit and high heels, beautifully presented, but that seemed to be armour for her. She was very emotional in fact.

‘Her marriage had collapsed in the most traumatic and horrible of circumstances. She was clearly absolutely devastated.’

Pryce confessed her role in taking her husband’s speeding tickets to the journalist who she saw as her ‘soulmate’.

She said she ‘rather liked’ Miss Oakeshott because she was also juggling a personal and professional life.

But their relationship ended when Pryce ignored Miss Oakeshott’s plea for help with a follow-up as the controversy raged around them.

Miss Oakeshott earlier told the court that Pryce would often send emails in the early hours, adding: ‘This was a broken woman.’

Pryce told Miss Oakeshott she was hopeful of getting a place on the Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates, and even suggested she had been approached by the Lib Dems as a potential candidate for the House of Lords.

The pair met in a queue at the 2010 Lib Dem conference in Liverpool after being introduced by Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott, a distant cousin of the journalist.

Speaking of this first meeting, Pryce said: ‘I have to say I had rather liked her when I met her.

‘She seemed to be a sort of soulmate, managing children, work, and I trusted her because she was related to someone who was a very, very good friend of mine’